 me in the studio. Jim, you're very welcome indeed. How are things? Tommy, things are great. Thank you so much. I better put up your microphone. Things are great. Tommy, thank you so much for having me here and having me just go back. Come here, Jim. The last time I spoke to you, you were in the car park. We were doing the stream. That's right. You were walking away with your phone. You were nearly knocked down by your car going... On the car park. I was telling you, watch that car behind you. How have things been going with you anyway? Things are going great. Things are going right, getting away and enjoying it. Just up and down the country, doing the dance halls and festivals coming up and doing concerts and what not. So it's from releasing songs and so we're back in the studio and everything's going great, thankfully. I was just looking at... I was just looking a little bit about you. I think it was 2014 you came on the scene, wasn't it, from that voice of Ireland? That's right. We came off the voice of Ireland and then a while later, then, we started under that monster band. So we're over 10 years now on the road, even if I've been working on it for 11 years. So it's been... It's flew on so quickly, you know. You can't believe it's on the road over 10 years, but everything's working out great. I'm just going to get you to move that microphone slightly, not you, just your microphone so we can see you. Oh, I saw it. There you are. You're lovely now, yeah. Oh, why? You can still talk into it. Anyways, come here. Back in 2020 when the pandemic came, that was a tight time for entertainers in general. It was, it was a fortunately for me. I, well, I grew up on a farm. That's where, like, we had the farm always to fall back on, you know, so I was lucky in that way, but it was, it was a long, long haul in the lockdown and this is where we came through it and things are looking up now. So everybody's come back to the country seeing the dancers are there and it's picking up again, like, you know, so it's great. Did you ever think at the time, did you ever do any of the live streams, you know, how a lot of entertainers went on Facebook and they did live streams, you know, to keep in touch with their fan base? I don't know, a few things with James McGarty. He was putting on live streams, so he was, so I'm doing a lot of his concerts and, but not really at home. A lot of things with James there, just to keep, just to keep people interested and keep your, keep your voice out there too, you know. So how we did, we did about. And your last album, have you, have you been working on anything new lately at all? Ah, so back in the studio now and working on my, this will be my, this will be my fourth album now I'm working on. So I'm back on with Jonathan Warnstone and, Johnford and, down with Jonathan and also up here at Letter Kenny. I've done a few tracks with Brian Kerrigan as well. So I were back in the studio listening to the albums on his way, it's going to be out very soon. So we're looking forward to get it released. Yeah, Brian is very good, isn't he? A lot of the new artists is coming under Brian. He's recording a lot of new artists. Hi, I'm a secret studio, he's up there too and he's getting a great sound. So Brian's doing well, he's up here in Letter Kenny which is handy to, you know. Come here, a little birdie is telling me you're going to be one of the mentors on this year's Glord Chair. Tell us who you're going to be looking after. Hi, so I'm this year's Glord here, really excited about that. I have a guy called Jared Gormney from Turon and just outside Castle D'Arc and he is my contestant on it and he's a fabulous country singer and also Chelsea Evans from Dunfani here in Donegal is also my work contestant and she is a beautiful singer as well and it's going to be a great show. So it's going to be on towards the end of March so we're really looking forward to it. Yeah, it's a great platform for new artists coming up. I know last year David actually had the winner, very own David James had the winner on it last year. That's right, it's great for these young artists coming through, you don't want to see the exposure and I says, you know, grab it with both arms, a hand, some just go for it and two contestants have been active, they're so easy work for Chelsea and Jared. So no, it's going to be really good. I hope everybody can get behind them and support them. Can you tell me, have you any gigs coming up around Donegal? Has it been a while since you played Donegal yourself? I was in Donegal two weeks ago down at Abbey Hotel, it was the 10th of February, we were down at Abbey Hotel but on a double show with Michael English and it was a super night down at Abbey. Donegal is very, it's healthy for country music, you know it's got a massive following. Gigs, I'm on tomorrow night and I'm showing Gateway Hotel in Bunkrana. It's a concert with McFlaven, is on it, Deck and Ernie, is on it, John and Nicole, Jerry Guthrie, me and Owen Mack, is on it tomorrow night. I think there's a few tickets left but it's looking like it's going to be sold out so that's a super one and then we have a very important one coming up on February 29th. That's next Thursday. Next Thursday. Tomorrow weekend. It's for a native, the Lightning Fund and Night for the Stars, Nan Green, Hotel and Burt. So that's going to be a massive one, hope everybody can get behind it and support it because it's for a super, super cause. We want everybody there on the night. Rob Brazil is going to be there. David Craig, David James, Chelsea Evans, Barry Kerwin, yourself Tommy and that's going to be myself as well. It's going to be a super night of country music so everybody welcome. Yeah, just not the scared of people now. I won't be singing, I'd be just doing a bit of comparing. Come here, our very own David is going well and I believe, I hear you're going to bring in, have you got your new swimming tugs yet? So you're yourself and David are heading out to swim. We're David and Highland Riddles on September and we're really looking forward to that. And M Traps abroad are brilliant and that's going to be a massive one for Highland Radio and David is doing fantastic. Isn't he? He is, it's great to see young people like David coming through and also Claudia Buckley as well. They're getting on great and they're great supporting and he's going to do fantastic. Yeah, it's funny, I remember when David started off first himself and his dad Martin had come up to me with one of his songs and it's unbelievable. As well as David being a good presenter here at the station, I've been watching his musical career in the background and he's really doing good and some of the songs he's picking are great. There's current single now, is he? Happy Street. Hi, hi, it's great. It's great, he's a great song. I think it's a Charlie Bright song he's done and he's playing on the way Ryan Turner in the lads as well as them and the band and they are Ryan Turner and he's a fantastic band behind him as well, David has so now he's doing well and he deserves it. And apart from this gig you're doing tomorrow night and Nick's Thursday night. Are you doing any dance gigs with your own band? So we're back in the, we're back in the round deal on, we're back in the round deal on the 16th of March. We're back in the round deal. Also I am on Sligo on the Diamond Coast Hotel on the 8th of March as well. That's down in the Skrullin, isn't it? Down in Skrullin, that's right. That's a double show. I think it's, I think I'm on my, Senator Jimmy Buckler, Jerry Guthrie, that's a double show on the way that night. Also we're back in the Rue Glen down in Waterford and yeah, back in the round deal on the 16th. And then I'm doing a few concerts with Derek Ryan as well. So we're back, I'm on Hotel Kilkenny. We have on the 23rd of April, back in the Ellingham Arms on Monday, the Easter Monday, that's the first April as well. So a lot of stuff coming up. Yeah, these weekends, you know, where you'd have a tour, treat it for nags, don't wear crowd pullers, literally you get a lot of, you know, you get the fans of you, you get the fans of David, you get the fans of Robert and Mazzella who are ever out there. That's what I do. People are getting four hours dancing and they're going away for the weekend and, you know, a stubble shows in the Friday nights and the Saturday night, then they're stopping on during Sunday as well. So it's a full weekend of country music, you know. So they're great to be a part of. Yeah, it's funny, I was just looking at a few clips on Facebook of, they're on Monday of David's night down in the Clanry last Sunday night and it was jammed and all the young ones, do you want the young ones out driving? It's unbelievable. It's great to see it come back so strong after lockdown. And the clan reads a great Sunday night dance, you know. Yeah, and I believe the tickets for the trip to Saloo has gone really well, David, it's been promoting that well. And lots of people, not just from around this county, but all over the place. That's going to be great. And, you know, we're looking forward to that in September. I'm also on a few more, I know I'm on Mike Danvers' cruise as well and I'm on Paul Claffey's trips over to Cadiz in June and also Derek's trip over to Spain and Patrick Finney's and also Jimmy Buckleys as well. And that's a good part of these trips and the people love them, you know, because it's music non-stop and it's great. I mean, it's going to be a super week. You wouldn't believe it. I should have stuck at the singing instead. What do I do to present it? People that say to me about it, the people that say to me about to present and all that, but you know, it's great while I enjoy what all you singers do. I get my little buzz here, the three nights I'm on here, between here, but nobody in front of me wears yourself and David and all the gang when you have a big crowd in front of you. You get the real buzz out of that, don't you? You get the energy of the dancers and the crowd, you know, and just the whole band does and it's just a great buzz at them dancers. You know, I love doing them. I love my job and very, very fortunate, you know, it's great. And did you ever try to songwriting at all? Not this long time. I was having a direct grind about this a few weeks ago and, no, I haven't really dabbled that much on that. Now, that's since my teenage years, really, like, you know, but you never know, time I might come up with one yet. It's amazing, you know, you mentioned David or you mentioned direct grind there and you mentioned Nathan Carter, as well as being fine entertainers. Great songwriter, Derek, isn't he? Ah, he's a super, super songwriter. Derek gave some great songs and he just, he just has that. Like, it's just, that's an over-strung days, but always very, very talented. You know, he's a great singer, but also a fantastic songwriter and he writes great songs for the scene. Camero, before I let you go now, you have to tell me about your new single, Beeswing. Beeswing, I... Beeswing, even. Hi, Beeswing. We've been doing it, we've been doing it. Now, it's the last good few months and we do it as a speeded up kind of slash version because the dancers have really taken it and they have this dance to do a slash date and they go back and forward and the dancers are fantastic in it and we were doing this last good few months and we just decided to go and record it. They recorded it on John Fennelman's studio and we don't have a video for it and it's been going down up to the storm so it's turned out well for us. We're buzzing the way about it. Yeah, I heard you mentioned in the slash and all the social dancing that's got very popular. Not, you know, how you used to have the dances in the Allianham or in the Clannery, but I know there's a venue down there in Milford as well and the social dancing might be on a Tuesday night or a Wednesday night or a Thursday night. It's very popular, isn't it? It's massive to you at the moment. You know, it's normally a little earlier than the big band dancing, you know, but no, that's going great as well. It's great to see it all coming back so strong. Well, David, I'm going to let you go. Thanks very much for popping up to see us and until we meet again, hopefully it'll not be in a car park. We're going to play a B-swing. Thanks for having a radio and all your listeners. Not at all. Here it is.